51 Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools ; for they do not know they are doing evil . 2 Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God . For God is in heaven and you are on the earth ; therefore e let your words be few . 3 For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words .
4 When you make a vow to God , do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools . Pay what you vow ! 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay . 6 Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake . Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands ? 7 For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness . Rather , fear God .
8 If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province , do not be shocked at the sight ; for one official watches over e another official , and there are higher officials over them.
9 After all , a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land . 10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money , nor he who loves abundance with its income . This too is vanity . 11 When good things increase , those who consume them increase . So what is the advantage to their owners except e to look e on? 12 The sleep of the working man is pleasant , whether he eats little or much ; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep . 13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun : riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt . 14 When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son , then there was nothing e to support him. 15 As he had come naked from his mother's womb , so will he return as he came . He will take nothing e from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand . 16 This also is a grievous evil -exactly as a man is born , thus will he die . So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind ? 17 Throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation , sickness and anger .
18 Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting : to eat , to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward . 19 Furthermore , as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth , He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor ; this is the gift of God . 20 For he will not often consider the years of his life , because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart .
31 There is an appointed time for everything . And there is a time for every event under heaven - 2 A time to give birth and a time to die ; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted . 3 A time to kill and a time to heal ; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to weep and a time to laugh ; A time to mourn and a time to dance . 5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones ; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing . 6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost ; A time to keep and a time to throw away . 7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together ; A time to be silent and a time to speak . 8 A time to love and a time to hate ; A time for war and a time for peace . 9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils ? 10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
11 He has made everything appropriate in its time . He has also set eternity in their heart , yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end . 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than e to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime ; 13 moreover , that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor -it is the gift of God . 14 I know that everything e God does will remain forever ; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. 15 That which e is has been already and that which will be has already been , for God seeks what has passed by.
16 Furthermore , I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness . 17 I said to myself , " God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man ," for a time for every matter and for every deed is there . 18 I said to myself concerning e the sons of men , "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts ." 19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same . As one dies so dies the other ; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast , for all is vanity . 20 All go to the same place . All came from the dust and all return to the dust . 21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth ? 22 I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities , for that is his lot . For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?
